Matching Shots - The Art and Technique of Digital Color Correction - page 394

Fig. 9.66 DaVinci Resolve's RGB Mixer tab works similarly to Avid Symphony's Channel Blending tab.
Matching Conclusion
So many of the guys—and Janet—have such a depth of experience that
most of them did these matches very much by eye. Less experienced col-
orists will find that one of the greatest ways to match shots is by using the
split screens and the RGB Parade waveform monitors, matching the vari-
ous “shapes” in the trace between each color channel or cell.
Another good way to assist your eye in matching is rapidly cutting
back and forth. At first, you can look at the overall image and try to
ascertain the differences, but as you get closer, your eye will have to iso-
late various tonal ranges as the shots cut back and forth so that you can
determine if the thing making one shot look redder—for example—than
the other shot is red coming from the shadows, midtones, or highlights.
And for a completely different viewpoint, Company 3's Stefan Son-
nenfeld questions the need to match at all, saying, “I have people who
will not let me use stills to match. I rarely use film stills. There are a lot
of people who will put up a still, take the still reference and just meticu-
lously match all throughout. I do not even use stills. Now and then I do
because people insist on it, but most of the time I do my thing and then
watch it and watch it in context. That is what it is all about. It is not just
technical perfection. This is where a lot of people fall short or flat. There is
a lot more to it. There are guys like Michael Bay who will literally get mad
at me if I start to try and match up things. It is not realistic. When you are
in an action scene and there is smoke and fire and car crashes and guns
and this and that it is haphazard. It is craziness. Why would every little
piece of image have to look the same? It is boring when it is one canvas.
It is one-dimensional, not three-dimensional. But once in a while, it is
appropriate.”